Tomato Aavakaya

It’s so hot here in Hyderabad that Arlo wants to stay in the AC room all day. In fact as soon as he gets sleepy he’s been dragging me to the AC room and asks me to turn on the AC. It’s only February and the heat has reached peaks. I know it won’t get better as the day progresses, but one can hope. Since it has been so hot mom thought it would be the perfect time to make her famous Tomato Aavakaya. Mom usually makes it in two ways – one is the instant one that requires refrigeration and won’t last long and the other that lasts for at least a year, which hasn’t ever because we eat it all up. Mom’s Tomato Aavakaya is so famous that I’ve had friends ask if my mom can make for them too. Maybe I can start a pachadi business, but since mom is the expert I won’t really be making much.

I decided to follow mom like Arlo and snap pictures of whatever she’s cooking. She’s been so patient with me while I take pictures she sometimes puts her life on hold so that I can get the perfect picture. VJ and his brother both love my mom’s Tomato Aavakaya a lot. It goes extremely well with everything – rice, idli, dosa and sometimes even for Pongal. My friend S has been asking me for this recipe for years, but since I don’t know how to make it I haven’t been able to share with her. But now since I’m in India and the sun is burning up, mom decided to make some so that my sister can take back. VJ loves Tomato Aavakaya a lot. It’s his favorite and he can eat it with anything. I know a lot of my friends love mom’s pachadi’s but this is by far everyone’s favorite. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Tomatoes – 1 KG (Approximately 2.2 pounds)

Salt – 0.25 KG (Approximately 0.55 pounds)

Turmeric – 1.5 tablespoon

Tamarind – Tennis ball sized (seedless)

Red Chili Powder – 0.25 KG (Approximately 0.55 pounds)

Fenugreek Seed Powder – 2 teaspoons

Mustard Seed Powder – 3 tablespoons

Gingelly Oil – 0.50 Liters (Half a pack)

Mustard Seeds – 2 tablespoons

Cumin Seeds – 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Asafoetida – 1 teaspoon

Dried Red Chilies – 8

How To Make

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Step 1: Wash tomatoes and keep it out to dry. Make sure that there is no water on the tomatoes.

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Step 2: Cut tomatoes into long pieces and place them in a huge box.

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Step 3: Add turmeric and salt and give it a nice shake. Leave it aside for 3 days.

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Step 4: On day 3, separate the tomato pieces and place them on a plastic sheet and leave them in the sun along with the juices still in the jar. Place the leftover juice from the tomatoes in the sun.

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Step 5: Repeat drying the tomato pieces if necessary. They needn’t dry a lot, but shouldn’t be too wet either.

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Step 6: Soak the entire ball of tamarind in the juice overnight.

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Step 7: Add the tomato pieces in a food processor jar. Add the juices that has the tamarind into a huge mixing bowl. Slowly remove the tamarind and add it to the tomatoes in the jar.

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Step 8: Blend it into a coarse mix. Add the blended mixture back to the juice.

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Step 9: Add red chili powder, fenugreek seed powder and mustard seed powder to the crushed tomatoes.

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Step 10: Mix it well and keep it aside. In a pan add the oil, once hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and the asafoetida. Add the dried red chilies last.

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Step 11: Once the mustard seeds start spluttering, removed the dried red chilies and add it to the pickle and keep it aside. Do not add the oil at this point.

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Step 12: Once the oil cools down add it to the pickle and mix it well.

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Step 13: Serve with rice/dosa/idli/upma or pongal.

Love,
Po